Mikoto sat on the bench perplexed by Daigotsu’s behavior. Daigotsu hadn’t ever really given Mikoto an answer, but no answer was usually the polite way to say no. She hadn’t tried again, believing her charms lost on Daigotsu, but now Daigotsu had just patted her leg, touched her, and that was the opposite of no. Then she just ran off. Maybe this was some strange way the Spider played hard to get. She wasn’t even going to pretend to understand. Mikoto looked down at Hikaru, “I don’t know either.”
It wasn’t long before the little Scorpion girl came walking towards the dueling grounds. She was clutching a pin doll and although she wasn’t crying, she seemed obviously upset to Mikoto. Okay… now what? Mikoto had told Daigotsu she would keep an eye out, and she stuck to her word, she never said she would interact with the kid. Besides, she wanted to watch the events unfold, see how it worked from this side of the Realm. If they had fixed the problem on the other side, things should just fix themselves here. Yes, it was better to keep her distance for now. Just keep watching, as she vowed to do.
The girl walked past Mikoto and started making her way north of the dueling grounds. That’s where the cave was, except there was no cave now. It wouldn’t have been possible for there to be a cave, the ground was flat with no incline or downward slope. Mikoto gave the child a good amount of space before she started following. She still wasn’t certain what to say to her, and if strangers scared her as much as Mikoto remembered they had, she didn’t want to startle the girl. Just make sure she didn’t get hurt. Or that she got back. What if their interactions in the other world weren’t happening now, now that they were back here? Mikoto decided she’d give it a little time before jumping to conclusions.
The Scorpion girl sat down where the cave would have been and began crying. Things just became even more awkward. If she didn’t know what to say when the child was just scared and lost, now what would she say? Hi lost girl, you’re crying, and I’m a stranger, and stop crying. Mikoto uneasily shifted and peered towards the dueling grounds. Daigotsu said she’d be right back, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could listen to before she just walked away. It was really making her uncomfortable. She didn’t have those motherly instincts that girls constantly referred to.
A black clad figure came into view at the south end of the tournament grounds. Oh thank the Celestial Heavens, Daigotsu had come back. Mikoto waved towards Daigotsu who was making quick work of the space between them, jogging towards her. Mikoto didn’t even get to explain the situation; Daigotsu looked behind her and went straight for the child. She shrugged; maybe Daigotsu had those motherly instincts under that rigid, firm exterior. She didn’t mind letting Daigotsu handle things, she still wasn’t certain of what to say.
Daigotsu slowed down to a trot and began pulling at her mask. It seemed to work. The girl stopped sniffling and just watched Daigotsu approach. Mikoto watched too. How strange would it be if Daigotsu and she were the ones that led the girl back to her camp both here and in that other world? Maybe that’s why it worked, because they were there both times.
“Hello-” Daigotsu had said but before she could finish her thought a wail erupted from the child. Louder and more dire than her previous crying. Daigotsu backed up raising her hands in the air. Mikoto rushed in.
“What did you do?!” Mikoto demanded. Suddenly the girl started screaming and Mikoto stared at her for a second, not even sure what was going on. She followed the girls eyes towards- Oh great, Hikaru. It dawned on her that not every little girl grows up with lions, Hikaru probably scared her even worse than whatever it was that Daigotsu did.
“Hikaru, roll over!” Hikaru lowered himself in the grass and turned his belly up. Mikoto turned back towards the less screaming little girl. “D-do you want to touch him? He won’t bite.”
She stopped screaming and began sniffling again. At least she was quiet. Slowly the Scorpion girl edged towards Hikaru, keeping her eyes fixed on Mikoto as if she were the scary one. The girl sat next to Hikaru and carefully rubbed on his belly. Mikoto nervously looked around noticing Daigotsu had fled the scene. Great, alone with… that.
“Hey, little girl, why are you crying?” Mikoto asked, honestly attempting to be gentle with her words.
“I dun know where my mommy is.” Her face began to wrinkle up again like it was doing earlier and she took some shuddered breaths.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Mikoto attempted to keep her calm. “Would you like Hikaru to take you back to your parents?”
At his name Hikaru looked up at Mikoto. She indicated for him to stay. The little girl sniffled and nodded. From behind her Mikoto heard people approaching, she glanced over her shoulder at two peasants who bowed to her.
“Samurai-sama, we are here to assist with the child.”
Mikoto nodded to the men and tapped her leg for Hikaru to follow, making sure the girl also followed. She trailed right after Hikaru. They all walked at a slow pace so the little girl could keep up. Once they hit the dueling grounds Mikoto saw Daigotsu lounging on a bench and glared at her. She knew Daigotsu couldn’t see her, but it was all the same to her. How could she have just run off while the kid was crying, and after making her wail like that? Leaving her to fix things. Grr. Daigotsu literally threw her to the mercy of something unmanageable with lungs louder than any lion she had ever heard.
“WE’RE NOT INTERESTED IN CHILDREN!” Daigotsu yelled to the empty space behind her. Alright, Mikoto decided, she is indeed a bit off center. Mikoto wasn’t even going to pretend to understand, she just shook her head and continued with the other men to the Scorpion camp to find the girls parents.
They were waiting for the child at the edge of the camp. At least they said they were her parents and the little girl sprinted away from Hikaru towards them. There was some sniffling from the girl while the parents just nodded, took her hand, and walked away. It was a little strange; they didn’t seem to be worried at all and didn’t even give a thank you. Mikoto huffed and turned, aiming to give Daigotsu a piece of her mind only to come face to face with another peasant, this one already bowing to her.
“Samurai-sama, I’m here to take you to Kitsuki-sama’s banquet.” The banquet! She almost had forgotten between the hectic child rearing that had just gone on and Daigotsu’s odd behavior. Mikoto took a deep breath and nodded to the woman.
“Lead the way.”
The peasant woman wove through the crowd, not too fast that Mikoto couldn’t keep up, but swift enough that she didn’t have much time to look around lest she run into another person, or a cart, or something else. It was actually enjoyable to move at such a fast pace after walking what felt like eternity with that little girl. The peasant stopped in front of a small building and bowed, pointing a hand towards the doorway. Mikoto entered to find Kitsuki, Shiba and Asahina seated at a small table, food already laid out and placement for five. She wasn’t the last to arrive, and judging from whom else was here, she guessed Daigotsu was the fifth party who had yet to show.
Mikoto quietly took a seat, staring at the rice on her plate. It was… strange. There were things in it, like peas and small bits of something else, and it had a tint to it like someone had already flavored it with soy sauce. Everyone must have been as curious as she was about the meal because no one said a word, not even welcoming her in when she arrived. Things were so quiet between the four of them. It only made sense; Mikoto didn’t want to talk about Asahina’s new title, since he had bested both her and Shiba in a way that made her look like she had no skill at all. It had been pretty amazing to behold when she saw him do the same to Shiba, but there was no way to bring it up without making herself look like a fool. She had only met Kitsuki the day before, and not even for that long. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about the cripple. Daigotsu had seemed to take a liking to him; she noticed the two sitting together during the iaijutsu tournament. Shiba was with them as well. And bringing up that strange place where she met all of them might make her seem a little insane. She was treating it much like a bad dream. She was aware it was more than that, but everyone else didn’t seem to want to acknowledge the events that had taken place so she didn’t want to be the one to bring it up either.
There was a shuffling at the door and Mikoto turned to see Daigotsu enter. She was different. First and foremost, she wasn’t wearing a mask. Daigotsu had hair and long hair at that. It was tied back in a half-ponytail and she had an eye patch affixed across one eye. She was also wearing a genuine kimono, albeit male, but the black armor Mikoto had begun to associate with Daigotsu wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Wait, Daigotsu was wearing a kimono, Asahina was wearing a kimono, Shiba was wearing a kimono, and she was the only one wearing her yaori. She began wondering if there was something she had missed in the letter, like a postscript about the formality of the event. Mikoto watched Daigotsu made her way to the empty spot next to Mikoto and quietly sit, joining the silence.
“If all is chaos, and nothing stays together, the world turns to sand. If all is order, nothing’s separate, the world turns to stone.” Kitsuki spouted poetically. Mikoto tilted her head at Kitsuki, wondering if he invited them all here to quote poetry.
“Dear friends,” He continued, “You know that it’s no coincidence that I invited you to dine with me, just as I believe it was no coincidence we were brought together in the first place. I’ve meditated deeply on the strange circumstance of our meeting and I’ve realized it must have been an act of fate. The peril we found ourselves in was not only great but completely unmentioned in all of Rokugan history.”
Mikoto had to hand it to Kitsuki; he did have a way of expressing ideas. Besides the meditating, and inviting people to lunch, and knowing the event had never happened before in history, it was as if he was pulling it straight from her thoughts.
“Now, I’ve spent some time studying omens, and from my studies I’ve learned that meaning flies on the wings of the uncommon. That leads me to think that our incredible unlikely encounter was in itself, an omen. Its meaning was as urgent as any call to arms.
“When we met in that shadowy land, we were given a riddle. This led to another. The last one liberated us when we solved it, but alas, things are never easy, and even the answer presented us with another riddle. That riddle was the center of my meditation and why I’ve called you to join me. I believe I understand the meaning.”
Oh good, he was getting to the point.
“On that day of shadows, we lived within a metaphor. When we were asked to solve the problem, we discovered the problem was what incites the Noise. When we were asked, “What caused the Noise?” We discovered that it was imbalance. When we asked how we could correct imbalance, we answered that it was with counterbalance.
“Perhaps the Noise was a metaphor for the rising tensions and disruptions in Rokugan caused by a growing imbalance between the Great Clans. If so, then it is clear that we were called upon to find a counterbalance. But how are we to do that? The answer to that lies even deeper.”
Mikoto raised her brows trying to show polite interest. She looked down at her food, probably more than a little cold now, and back to Kitsuki who was still talking.
“The Noise was a metaphor for disruption in ourselves, which will destroy us if we cannot silence it. After all, how can we bring balance to the Empire if we cannot find it within? That goes to a far greater question, and that happens to be answered by another that we‘ve already asked, why were we brought together?”
This was not what she had signed up for. Mikoto wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t pontificating about metaphors and riddles and why they were together. It was clear they were together because they chose to be. Sure they were thrown together to begin with, but after that moment everyone made the choices they made and continued to make them until they reached this point. There didn’t need to be any more explanation than that for her.
“Why us? What makes us unique or special to be chosen to achieve some noble cause?”
Kitsuki must like to hear his own voice.
“I’ll tell you.”
Of course you will.
“Balance. We bring balance to one another.”
Mikoto looked down at her food again, nudging her chopsticks sitting by the plate. She considered seeing how far she could tap them before she actually got to use them.
“The precision and control of one counterbalances the passions of another.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“The grace and beauty of one, counterbalances the clumsiness of another.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“We were matched because we can bring to one another the balance that none of us can hope to achieve on our own and each of us will perish without. I admit to being somewhat selfish in this speech, although I have spoken no lie. You see, I have the most to lose without each of you. Because, while you may perish or be consumed by the ambitions of your clan…” Kitsuki paused. Mikoto glanced up to see Kitsuki looking at Asahina, “Or you may be lost someday in the shadows of your own glory, I myself will simply fade into nothing.”
Mikoto slowly slid the chopsticks back to where they started and put her hand in her lap. She cleared her throat and refocused on Kitsuki who didn’t seem to notice her recent behavior.
“We all need each other for this purpose. And if any one of us should fall, the rest will fall into disarray. A carriage cannot ride upon a wheel with a spoke broken.” Kitsuki looked around the table and Mikoto did the same. Everyone was giving him their full attention, except her. If only she actually enjoyed this sort of thing. It didn’t surprise her that Asahina did. And Shiba also seemed the sort to be entertained by others speaking.
“So my friends, I ask you to join with me and answer the call that was so clearly spoken by destiny. I know nothing of the challenge that awaits us but I do know that we must unite to face it. Dear friends, will you join me for this purpose?”
Mikoto waited, sure Kitsuki was going to say something else. No one said anything. Maybe they weren’t sure if he was finished either.
“Eloquently spoken, and I fully agree,” Asahina finally shattered the silence. Mikoto was glad someone said something; it was starting to get awkward enough that even she could feel it, and she wasn’t always aware of the nuances of social situations. “Together we are like the five rings making the world whole. Wherever it goes from here is… perhaps fate, perhaps we are relied on. But I’m part of it.”
“Kitsuki-san,” Daigotsu nodded towards Kitsuki, “Wherever you go, I will be beside you.”
“You have my gratitude and confidence.” Kitsuki responded then looked at Shiba and her, probably waiting for an answer. She needed some time to think on this. She wasn’t going to just jump into pledging her life to someone who had no idea what the cause was for. Honestly, she had only come for the food promised, which she wasn’t even sure she wanted to eat now that she saw it. Kitsuki seemed to accept her lack of response and lifted his chopsticks.
Mikoto peered at Shiba across from her, she wasn’t eating either. Asahina was staring at Daigotsu across from him, now that she noticed it, so was Kitsuki. Daigotsu was eating the strange rice with abandon. Mikoto stared as well, trying to gauge the taste and safety of the food by Daigotsu’s reaction to it. Daigotsu wasn’t giving away anything except that it was something she could eat, and that covered a large area of things Mikoto wouldn‘t.
Mikoto began picking at her rice, pulling each item out, sniffing it, and tasting them one at a time. Onion. Watercress. Egg. Peas. Carrots. The rice was spiced and heavy. Together it wasn’t that bad, but Mikoto would have rather had normal food for lunch. Judging from Kitsuki’s initial uncertainty, Mikoto figured this was not normal food for him either. Mikoto was pushing around more than eating when she felt a brush against her shoulder. Daigotsu pulling a hair off of Mikoto, which she then tucked in her obi.
“What are you doing?” Mikoto demanded.
“There was a hair. I was just removing it.” Daigotsu smiled.
Mikoto stared at her for another minute, but Daigotsu went back to eating as if nothing had happened. She saw Daigotsu tuck it into her robe! Who did that?! The same person who touched her leg and ran off. The same person who wore a man’s kimono. The same person who also ran off when Mikoto had bat her eyes at Daigotsu without as much as a word. There were probably a dozen more odd behaviors Mikoto didn’t even know about.
“Last night, before I turned in, I received a summons to the mayor’s house,” Kitsuki politely made conversation.
“I also received that,” Asahina responded.
“I as well,” Shiba whispered. It was the first time Shiba said anything since Mikoto had arrived. She still wasn’t eating the food.
“Same,” Mikoto added.
“It seems a lot of invitations are going around,” Daigotsu smirked. Yes, she actually smirked. It was so odd to see her face that the facial expression kind of shocked Mikoto.
“Interesting,” said Asahina. It really wasn’t that interesting. If an Otomo was having a dinner party, surely more than just the five of them would be invited. Probably a dozen or two total in attendance. Not that Mikoto had ever been to a party thrown by the Imperial family, but if everyone there had an invite, then it was safe to assume more would as well.
“Any idea what it’s about?” Asahina asked.
“Not yet,” responded Kitsuki.
“Asahina-san,” Daigotsu began pointedly, “You are the Topaz Champion. That has to come with some sort of prestige. And I did end up the runner up-”
Shiba interrupted in her soft, whisper of a voice, “And Matsu lost in the first round.”
“Shiba-san!” Mikoto exploded slamming her fist on the table and staring Shiba down. Shiba glanced at the table under Mikoto’s gaze and began fidgeting. “Eat,” Mikoto commanded. She didn’t take her eyes off Shiba, she was lucky Mikoto was across the table, if she had been close enough it may have resulted in a smack, the way Mokoto disciplined Hikaru.
“You make a good point, but that only accounts for your invitations. None of use would have a place there,” Kitsuki continued on as if nothing had just happened. Mikoto knew it was the polite thing to do. In samurai society if you don’t see it, the problem doesn’t exist.
“So this might be an omen, Kitsuki-san? And you have no insight if this is a good or bad omen?” Asahina wasn’t letting this ‘interesting’ invitation go. It wasn’t destiny; it was just a dinner party. Mikoto visibly rolled her eyes. Although this was better than letting her food get cold while Kitsuki spoke, it was still a tiring topic to be stuck on.
“I don’t believe it’s an omen, but it may be the first step of the path we are set upon,” Kitsuki responded, folding his hands.
“But… still… How would the Otomo family know to invite all of us… individually?” Mikoto glared at Shiba again. She just had to keep this circulating.
“Maybe there are other people invited too,” Asahina proposed. Finally! Now we can move on from this boring talk about boring meals with boring people.
“Is fate only answered by the actions of the knowing?” Kitsuki asked rhetorically. Everyone went silent considering his words. Mikoto pushed her rice around her plate, wondering if it would be rude to leave before everyone else was done. She had had enough of talk of fate and destiny and social graces. She wanted to be rid of the ridiculous expectations and requirements for keeping face, it was supposed to be a luncheon and even this quickly became another bar to be passed. She hadn’t said she would stick with Kitsuki, or Asahina, or Daigotsu, but she knew that it would be expected by one of them; probably Asahina.
“You bring up an excellent point, Kitsuki-san. I know very little about each of you besides your name, perhaps we can learn a bit more about each other?” Daigotsu smiled and looked around the table. Another round of silence between the group.
Mikoto shrugged. She wasn’t too fond of the idea of everyone knowing her life, but what would it hurt? If they were considering each other ‘friends’ as Kitsuki kept referring to them in his speech, then friends should know the ins and outs of each other. Plus, maybe she could gain some insight on the strangeness of Daigotsu. And it would at least come out that Mikoto was betrothed, maybe Asahina would stop trying so hard to impress her once he knew, though he was somewhat impressive himself. She recalled how amazing it was the way he cut every opponent’s mon off. It was a little… exciting. But he had boldly called her ‘chan’ in front of everyone at the tournament. Oh the nerve! What sort of rumors would she have to deny to her mother if anyone had heard it?
“I can start, though there’s not much to say about myself.” Daigotsu was basically talking to the table, her eye wandering to random locations instead of looking anyone in the face. “My father died in the Destroyer Wars last year… and… now I am here. What about you Asahina-san?”
Not what Mikoto had expected. It was short and didn’t say much about Daigotsu at all. Asahina took a deep breath, looking unsure of what to say. Mikoto could see the question made Asahina uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure how winning a championship would feel, but she guessed he recently had many people asking him questions about his life.
“Having the blood of Asahina flowing through my veins and not being capable of communing with the kami, I felt rather fortunate to be taken under the wing of the famous Kakita sensei, who reminded my father that his grandfather was also an Asahina of the Kakita School.”
Asahina gave a little more than Daigotsu did. Mikoto would accept it.
“Shiba-san?” Daigotsu prompted.
“I’m Shiba Morasahi. And… um- I’m the daughter of Mosohai and Soreyu.” Shiba’s voice was getting softer and softer as she continued. “I…um… I was initially intended to be… a… yojimbo for the Isawa family, but-um, my older sister was granted that position. So I’ve recently… been trying my own path.” Shiba looked across the table to Mikoto.
“My mother was a Beastmaster.” Mikoto was proud of that, if there was anything people needed to know about her it was that she was proud of her school, her mother, and herself.
“She died, unfortunately, during childbirth with me. And my father could not stand to be reminded of that,” Mikoto began clenching her teeth. There were many things she got over as she grew older, but abandonment was a lifelong wound.
“So I was not raised by my father in particular, and when he remarried I ended up going to the school. Along the way my new mother arranged for my betrothal to a Unicorn.” She scowled at the thought of Moto Leon. “Who apparently wants to hunt my lion down and thinks that I’m no better than an animal myself… and… That’s that.”
Everyone was staring at her in stunned silence. Finally, she thought, finally people understand how terrible of a match she and Moto Leon would be. She felt somewhat vindicated because obviously his behavior was so repulsive no one knew what to say.
“As you can imagine I was always shunned,” Kitsuki began. Yeah, he definitely liked to hear himself talk, Mikoto decided.
“No,” Daigotsu gasped as if she was shocked. She looked a little shocked, but Mikoto wasn’t sure if Daigotsu was mocking Kitsuki or not.
Kitsuki continued on, “My father considered my affliction to be a curse and so he called upon specialists to try to cure me of it. These specialists used all the magic in Rokugan and couldn’t fix me. They laid me upon stretchers and pulled my legs apart from my hands, in a kind of torture to rid this from my body. And even that didn’t work. From that, I learned something incredibly useful to me. And that is that my affliction is as much a strength as it is a weakness. You see that we are defined by our limitations and by how we live up to those limitations.
“If a man is capable of doing anything, and he tries to do everything he is capable of, he will never master a thing. Where as I, the gimp, the cripple in court, must speak twice as elegantly to get any amount of attention. I could never fight, so I dedicated my time to study, and I embraced this limitation to develop into who I am now.
“This is the only way I’ve been able to gain any attention or reputation, because I see this thing that so many people would call a curse as a blessing instead. That’s how I came to see Bushido as a way of finding balance between capability and limitation.”
Out of that, Mikoto got, “I’m a cripple and can’t do anything but talk.” She reminded herself to never ask Kitsuki a question unless she had a half hour to spend listening to his pseudo-spiritual ranting. Maybe stabbing him wasn’t yet out of the question; she’d have to mention it again to Daigotsu.
If dinner was going to be anything like this, she was considering feigning ill. The group talked a little more, about what Mikoto couldn’t really say, “Talk…Blah blah…imperative… blah blah…” Shiba was obviously enthralled with what Asahina and Kitsuki were discussing. Shiba did enjoy tagging along though, so it made sense she would do so in a conversation. Daigotsu looked just as bored as she did, at least they shared that something in common. Daigotsu stood and Mikoto blinked back to the present. Apparently the lunch was over, Asahina was offering courtesies, Daigotsu had headed out the door, and Shiba looked like she was trying to make up her mind whether to stay or go. Matsu took off while the getting was good. She was going to need to work out some tension before spending another several hours in the company of another windbag, or several of them.
It wasn’t long before the little Scorpion girl came walking towards the dueling grounds. She was clutching a pin doll and although she wasn’t crying, she seemed obviously upset to Mikoto. Okay… now what? Mikoto had told Daigotsu she would keep an eye out, and she stuck to her word, she never said she would interact with the kid. Besides, she wanted to watch the events unfold, see how it worked from this side of the Realm. If they had fixed the problem on the other side, things should just fix themselves here. Yes, it was better to keep her distance for now. Just keep watching, as she vowed to do.
The girl walked past Mikoto and started making her way north of the dueling grounds. That’s where the cave was, except there was no cave now. It wouldn’t have been possible for there to be a cave, the ground was flat with no incline or downward slope. Mikoto gave the child a good amount of space before she started following. She still wasn’t certain what to say to her, and if strangers scared her as much as Mikoto remembered they had, she didn’t want to startle the girl. Just make sure she didn’t get hurt. Or that she got back. What if their interactions in the other world weren’t happening now, now that they were back here? Mikoto decided she’d give it a little time before jumping to conclusions.
The Scorpion girl sat down where the cave would have been and began crying. Things just became even more awkward. If she didn’t know what to say when the child was just scared and lost, now what would she say? Hi lost girl, you’re crying, and I’m a stranger, and stop crying. Mikoto uneasily shifted and peered towards the dueling grounds. Daigotsu said she’d be right back, and she wasn’t sure how much more she could listen to before she just walked away. It was really making her uncomfortable. She didn’t have those motherly instincts that girls constantly referred to.
A black clad figure came into view at the south end of the tournament grounds. Oh thank the Celestial Heavens, Daigotsu had come back. Mikoto waved towards Daigotsu who was making quick work of the space between them, jogging towards her. Mikoto didn’t even get to explain the situation; Daigotsu looked behind her and went straight for the child. She shrugged; maybe Daigotsu had those motherly instincts under that rigid, firm exterior. She didn’t mind letting Daigotsu handle things, she still wasn’t certain of what to say.
Daigotsu slowed down to a trot and began pulling at her mask. It seemed to work. The girl stopped sniffling and just watched Daigotsu approach. Mikoto watched too. How strange would it be if Daigotsu and she were the ones that led the girl back to her camp both here and in that other world? Maybe that’s why it worked, because they were there both times.
“Hello-” Daigotsu had said but before she could finish her thought a wail erupted from the child. Louder and more dire than her previous crying. Daigotsu backed up raising her hands in the air. Mikoto rushed in.
“What did you do?!” Mikoto demanded. Suddenly the girl started screaming and Mikoto stared at her for a second, not even sure what was going on. She followed the girls eyes towards- Oh great, Hikaru. It dawned on her that not every little girl grows up with lions, Hikaru probably scared her even worse than whatever it was that Daigotsu did.
“Hikaru, roll over!” Hikaru lowered himself in the grass and turned his belly up. Mikoto turned back towards the less screaming little girl. “D-do you want to touch him? He won’t bite.”
She stopped screaming and began sniffling again. At least she was quiet. Slowly the Scorpion girl edged towards Hikaru, keeping her eyes fixed on Mikoto as if she were the scary one. The girl sat next to Hikaru and carefully rubbed on his belly. Mikoto nervously looked around noticing Daigotsu had fled the scene. Great, alone with… that.
“Hey, little girl, why are you crying?” Mikoto asked, honestly attempting to be gentle with her words.
“I dun know where my mommy is.” Her face began to wrinkle up again like it was doing earlier and she took some shuddered breaths.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Mikoto attempted to keep her calm. “Would you like Hikaru to take you back to your parents?”
At his name Hikaru looked up at Mikoto. She indicated for him to stay. The little girl sniffled and nodded. From behind her Mikoto heard people approaching, she glanced over her shoulder at two peasants who bowed to her.
“Samurai-sama, we are here to assist with the child.”
Mikoto nodded to the men and tapped her leg for Hikaru to follow, making sure the girl also followed. She trailed right after Hikaru. They all walked at a slow pace so the little girl could keep up. Once they hit the dueling grounds Mikoto saw Daigotsu lounging on a bench and glared at her. She knew Daigotsu couldn’t see her, but it was all the same to her. How could she have just run off while the kid was crying, and after making her wail like that? Leaving her to fix things. Grr. Daigotsu literally threw her to the mercy of something unmanageable with lungs louder than any lion she had ever heard.
“WE’RE NOT INTERESTED IN CHILDREN!” Daigotsu yelled to the empty space behind her. Alright, Mikoto decided, she is indeed a bit off center. Mikoto wasn’t even going to pretend to understand, she just shook her head and continued with the other men to the Scorpion camp to find the girls parents.
They were waiting for the child at the edge of the camp. At least they said they were her parents and the little girl sprinted away from Hikaru towards them. There was some sniffling from the girl while the parents just nodded, took her hand, and walked away. It was a little strange; they didn’t seem to be worried at all and didn’t even give a thank you. Mikoto huffed and turned, aiming to give Daigotsu a piece of her mind only to come face to face with another peasant, this one already bowing to her.
“Samurai-sama, I’m here to take you to Kitsuki-sama’s banquet.” The banquet! She almost had forgotten between the hectic child rearing that had just gone on and Daigotsu’s odd behavior. Mikoto took a deep breath and nodded to the woman.
“Lead the way.”
The peasant woman wove through the crowd, not too fast that Mikoto couldn’t keep up, but swift enough that she didn’t have much time to look around lest she run into another person, or a cart, or something else. It was actually enjoyable to move at such a fast pace after walking what felt like eternity with that little girl. The peasant stopped in front of a small building and bowed, pointing a hand towards the doorway. Mikoto entered to find Kitsuki, Shiba and Asahina seated at a small table, food already laid out and placement for five. She wasn’t the last to arrive, and judging from whom else was here, she guessed Daigotsu was the fifth party who had yet to show.
Mikoto quietly took a seat, staring at the rice on her plate. It was… strange. There were things in it, like peas and small bits of something else, and it had a tint to it like someone had already flavored it with soy sauce. Everyone must have been as curious as she was about the meal because no one said a word, not even welcoming her in when she arrived. Things were so quiet between the four of them. It only made sense; Mikoto didn’t want to talk about Asahina’s new title, since he had bested both her and Shiba in a way that made her look like she had no skill at all. It had been pretty amazing to behold when she saw him do the same to Shiba, but there was no way to bring it up without making herself look like a fool. She had only met Kitsuki the day before, and not even for that long. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about the cripple. Daigotsu had seemed to take a liking to him; she noticed the two sitting together during the iaijutsu tournament. Shiba was with them as well. And bringing up that strange place where she met all of them might make her seem a little insane. She was treating it much like a bad dream. She was aware it was more than that, but everyone else didn’t seem to want to acknowledge the events that had taken place so she didn’t want to be the one to bring it up either.
There was a shuffling at the door and Mikoto turned to see Daigotsu enter. She was different. First and foremost, she wasn’t wearing a mask. Daigotsu had hair and long hair at that. It was tied back in a half-ponytail and she had an eye patch affixed across one eye. She was also wearing a genuine kimono, albeit male, but the black armor Mikoto had begun to associate with Daigotsu wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Wait, Daigotsu was wearing a kimono, Asahina was wearing a kimono, Shiba was wearing a kimono, and she was the only one wearing her yaori. She began wondering if there was something she had missed in the letter, like a postscript about the formality of the event. Mikoto watched Daigotsu made her way to the empty spot next to Mikoto and quietly sit, joining the silence.
“If all is chaos, and nothing stays together, the world turns to sand. If all is order, nothing’s separate, the world turns to stone.” Kitsuki spouted poetically. Mikoto tilted her head at Kitsuki, wondering if he invited them all here to quote poetry.
“Dear friends,” He continued, “You know that it’s no coincidence that I invited you to dine with me, just as I believe it was no coincidence we were brought together in the first place. I’ve meditated deeply on the strange circumstance of our meeting and I’ve realized it must have been an act of fate. The peril we found ourselves in was not only great but completely unmentioned in all of Rokugan history.”
Mikoto had to hand it to Kitsuki; he did have a way of expressing ideas. Besides the meditating, and inviting people to lunch, and knowing the event had never happened before in history, it was as if he was pulling it straight from her thoughts.
“Now, I’ve spent some time studying omens, and from my studies I’ve learned that meaning flies on the wings of the uncommon. That leads me to think that our incredible unlikely encounter was in itself, an omen. Its meaning was as urgent as any call to arms.
“When we met in that shadowy land, we were given a riddle. This led to another. The last one liberated us when we solved it, but alas, things are never easy, and even the answer presented us with another riddle. That riddle was the center of my meditation and why I’ve called you to join me. I believe I understand the meaning.”
Oh good, he was getting to the point.
“On that day of shadows, we lived within a metaphor. When we were asked to solve the problem, we discovered the problem was what incites the Noise. When we were asked, “What caused the Noise?” We discovered that it was imbalance. When we asked how we could correct imbalance, we answered that it was with counterbalance.
“Perhaps the Noise was a metaphor for the rising tensions and disruptions in Rokugan caused by a growing imbalance between the Great Clans. If so, then it is clear that we were called upon to find a counterbalance. But how are we to do that? The answer to that lies even deeper.”
Mikoto raised her brows trying to show polite interest. She looked down at her food, probably more than a little cold now, and back to Kitsuki who was still talking.
“The Noise was a metaphor for disruption in ourselves, which will destroy us if we cannot silence it. After all, how can we bring balance to the Empire if we cannot find it within? That goes to a far greater question, and that happens to be answered by another that we‘ve already asked, why were we brought together?”
This was not what she had signed up for. Mikoto wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t pontificating about metaphors and riddles and why they were together. It was clear they were together because they chose to be. Sure they were thrown together to begin with, but after that moment everyone made the choices they made and continued to make them until they reached this point. There didn’t need to be any more explanation than that for her.
“Why us? What makes us unique or special to be chosen to achieve some noble cause?”
Kitsuki must like to hear his own voice.
“I’ll tell you.”
Of course you will.
“Balance. We bring balance to one another.”
Mikoto looked down at her food again, nudging her chopsticks sitting by the plate. She considered seeing how far she could tap them before she actually got to use them.
“The precision and control of one counterbalances the passions of another.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“The grace and beauty of one, counterbalances the clumsiness of another.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“We were matched because we can bring to one another the balance that none of us can hope to achieve on our own and each of us will perish without. I admit to being somewhat selfish in this speech, although I have spoken no lie. You see, I have the most to lose without each of you. Because, while you may perish or be consumed by the ambitions of your clan…” Kitsuki paused. Mikoto glanced up to see Kitsuki looking at Asahina, “Or you may be lost someday in the shadows of your own glory, I myself will simply fade into nothing.”
Mikoto slowly slid the chopsticks back to where they started and put her hand in her lap. She cleared her throat and refocused on Kitsuki who didn’t seem to notice her recent behavior.
“We all need each other for this purpose. And if any one of us should fall, the rest will fall into disarray. A carriage cannot ride upon a wheel with a spoke broken.” Kitsuki looked around the table and Mikoto did the same. Everyone was giving him their full attention, except her. If only she actually enjoyed this sort of thing. It didn’t surprise her that Asahina did. And Shiba also seemed the sort to be entertained by others speaking.
“So my friends, I ask you to join with me and answer the call that was so clearly spoken by destiny. I know nothing of the challenge that awaits us but I do know that we must unite to face it. Dear friends, will you join me for this purpose?”
Mikoto waited, sure Kitsuki was going to say something else. No one said anything. Maybe they weren’t sure if he was finished either.
“Eloquently spoken, and I fully agree,” Asahina finally shattered the silence. Mikoto was glad someone said something; it was starting to get awkward enough that even she could feel it, and she wasn’t always aware of the nuances of social situations. “Together we are like the five rings making the world whole. Wherever it goes from here is… perhaps fate, perhaps we are relied on. But I’m part of it.”
“Kitsuki-san,” Daigotsu nodded towards Kitsuki, “Wherever you go, I will be beside you.”
“You have my gratitude and confidence.” Kitsuki responded then looked at Shiba and her, probably waiting for an answer. She needed some time to think on this. She wasn’t going to just jump into pledging her life to someone who had no idea what the cause was for. Honestly, she had only come for the food promised, which she wasn’t even sure she wanted to eat now that she saw it. Kitsuki seemed to accept her lack of response and lifted his chopsticks.
Mikoto peered at Shiba across from her, she wasn’t eating either. Asahina was staring at Daigotsu across from him, now that she noticed it, so was Kitsuki. Daigotsu was eating the strange rice with abandon. Mikoto stared as well, trying to gauge the taste and safety of the food by Daigotsu’s reaction to it. Daigotsu wasn’t giving away anything except that it was something she could eat, and that covered a large area of things Mikoto wouldn‘t.
Mikoto began picking at her rice, pulling each item out, sniffing it, and tasting them one at a time. Onion. Watercress. Egg. Peas. Carrots. The rice was spiced and heavy. Together it wasn’t that bad, but Mikoto would have rather had normal food for lunch. Judging from Kitsuki’s initial uncertainty, Mikoto figured this was not normal food for him either. Mikoto was pushing around more than eating when she felt a brush against her shoulder. Daigotsu pulling a hair off of Mikoto, which she then tucked in her obi.
“What are you doing?” Mikoto demanded.
“There was a hair. I was just removing it.” Daigotsu smiled.
Mikoto stared at her for another minute, but Daigotsu went back to eating as if nothing had happened. She saw Daigotsu tuck it into her robe! Who did that?! The same person who touched her leg and ran off. The same person who wore a man’s kimono. The same person who also ran off when Mikoto had bat her eyes at Daigotsu without as much as a word. There were probably a dozen more odd behaviors Mikoto didn’t even know about.
“Last night, before I turned in, I received a summons to the mayor’s house,” Kitsuki politely made conversation.
“I also received that,” Asahina responded.
“I as well,” Shiba whispered. It was the first time Shiba said anything since Mikoto had arrived. She still wasn’t eating the food.
“Same,” Mikoto added.
“It seems a lot of invitations are going around,” Daigotsu smirked. Yes, she actually smirked. It was so odd to see her face that the facial expression kind of shocked Mikoto.
“Interesting,” said Asahina. It really wasn’t that interesting. If an Otomo was having a dinner party, surely more than just the five of them would be invited. Probably a dozen or two total in attendance. Not that Mikoto had ever been to a party thrown by the Imperial family, but if everyone there had an invite, then it was safe to assume more would as well.
“Any idea what it’s about?” Asahina asked.
“Not yet,” responded Kitsuki.
“Asahina-san,” Daigotsu began pointedly, “You are the Topaz Champion. That has to come with some sort of prestige. And I did end up the runner up-”
Shiba interrupted in her soft, whisper of a voice, “And Matsu lost in the first round.”
“Shiba-san!” Mikoto exploded slamming her fist on the table and staring Shiba down. Shiba glanced at the table under Mikoto’s gaze and began fidgeting. “Eat,” Mikoto commanded. She didn’t take her eyes off Shiba, she was lucky Mikoto was across the table, if she had been close enough it may have resulted in a smack, the way Mokoto disciplined Hikaru.
“You make a good point, but that only accounts for your invitations. None of use would have a place there,” Kitsuki continued on as if nothing had just happened. Mikoto knew it was the polite thing to do. In samurai society if you don’t see it, the problem doesn’t exist.
“So this might be an omen, Kitsuki-san? And you have no insight if this is a good or bad omen?” Asahina wasn’t letting this ‘interesting’ invitation go. It wasn’t destiny; it was just a dinner party. Mikoto visibly rolled her eyes. Although this was better than letting her food get cold while Kitsuki spoke, it was still a tiring topic to be stuck on.
“I don’t believe it’s an omen, but it may be the first step of the path we are set upon,” Kitsuki responded, folding his hands.
“But… still… How would the Otomo family know to invite all of us… individually?” Mikoto glared at Shiba again. She just had to keep this circulating.
“Maybe there are other people invited too,” Asahina proposed. Finally! Now we can move on from this boring talk about boring meals with boring people.
“Is fate only answered by the actions of the knowing?” Kitsuki asked rhetorically. Everyone went silent considering his words. Mikoto pushed her rice around her plate, wondering if it would be rude to leave before everyone else was done. She had had enough of talk of fate and destiny and social graces. She wanted to be rid of the ridiculous expectations and requirements for keeping face, it was supposed to be a luncheon and even this quickly became another bar to be passed. She hadn’t said she would stick with Kitsuki, or Asahina, or Daigotsu, but she knew that it would be expected by one of them; probably Asahina.
“You bring up an excellent point, Kitsuki-san. I know very little about each of you besides your name, perhaps we can learn a bit more about each other?” Daigotsu smiled and looked around the table. Another round of silence between the group.
Mikoto shrugged. She wasn’t too fond of the idea of everyone knowing her life, but what would it hurt? If they were considering each other ‘friends’ as Kitsuki kept referring to them in his speech, then friends should know the ins and outs of each other. Plus, maybe she could gain some insight on the strangeness of Daigotsu. And it would at least come out that Mikoto was betrothed, maybe Asahina would stop trying so hard to impress her once he knew, though he was somewhat impressive himself. She recalled how amazing it was the way he cut every opponent’s mon off. It was a little… exciting. But he had boldly called her ‘chan’ in front of everyone at the tournament. Oh the nerve! What sort of rumors would she have to deny to her mother if anyone had heard it?
“I can start, though there’s not much to say about myself.” Daigotsu was basically talking to the table, her eye wandering to random locations instead of looking anyone in the face. “My father died in the Destroyer Wars last year… and… now I am here. What about you Asahina-san?”
Not what Mikoto had expected. It was short and didn’t say much about Daigotsu at all. Asahina took a deep breath, looking unsure of what to say. Mikoto could see the question made Asahina uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure how winning a championship would feel, but she guessed he recently had many people asking him questions about his life.
“Having the blood of Asahina flowing through my veins and not being capable of communing with the kami, I felt rather fortunate to be taken under the wing of the famous Kakita sensei, who reminded my father that his grandfather was also an Asahina of the Kakita School.”
Asahina gave a little more than Daigotsu did. Mikoto would accept it.
“Shiba-san?” Daigotsu prompted.
“I’m Shiba Morasahi. And… um- I’m the daughter of Mosohai and Soreyu.” Shiba’s voice was getting softer and softer as she continued. “I…um… I was initially intended to be… a… yojimbo for the Isawa family, but-um, my older sister was granted that position. So I’ve recently… been trying my own path.” Shiba looked across the table to Mikoto.
“My mother was a Beastmaster.” Mikoto was proud of that, if there was anything people needed to know about her it was that she was proud of her school, her mother, and herself.
“She died, unfortunately, during childbirth with me. And my father could not stand to be reminded of that,” Mikoto began clenching her teeth. There were many things she got over as she grew older, but abandonment was a lifelong wound.
“So I was not raised by my father in particular, and when he remarried I ended up going to the school. Along the way my new mother arranged for my betrothal to a Unicorn.” She scowled at the thought of Moto Leon. “Who apparently wants to hunt my lion down and thinks that I’m no better than an animal myself… and… That’s that.”
Everyone was staring at her in stunned silence. Finally, she thought, finally people understand how terrible of a match she and Moto Leon would be. She felt somewhat vindicated because obviously his behavior was so repulsive no one knew what to say.
“As you can imagine I was always shunned,” Kitsuki began. Yeah, he definitely liked to hear himself talk, Mikoto decided.
“No,” Daigotsu gasped as if she was shocked. She looked a little shocked, but Mikoto wasn’t sure if Daigotsu was mocking Kitsuki or not.
Kitsuki continued on, “My father considered my affliction to be a curse and so he called upon specialists to try to cure me of it. These specialists used all the magic in Rokugan and couldn’t fix me. They laid me upon stretchers and pulled my legs apart from my hands, in a kind of torture to rid this from my body. And even that didn’t work. From that, I learned something incredibly useful to me. And that is that my affliction is as much a strength as it is a weakness. You see that we are defined by our limitations and by how we live up to those limitations.
“If a man is capable of doing anything, and he tries to do everything he is capable of, he will never master a thing. Where as I, the gimp, the cripple in court, must speak twice as elegantly to get any amount of attention. I could never fight, so I dedicated my time to study, and I embraced this limitation to develop into who I am now.
“This is the only way I’ve been able to gain any attention or reputation, because I see this thing that so many people would call a curse as a blessing instead. That’s how I came to see Bushido as a way of finding balance between capability and limitation.”
Out of that, Mikoto got, “I’m a cripple and can’t do anything but talk.” She reminded herself to never ask Kitsuki a question unless she had a half hour to spend listening to his pseudo-spiritual ranting. Maybe stabbing him wasn’t yet out of the question; she’d have to mention it again to Daigotsu.
If dinner was going to be anything like this, she was considering feigning ill. The group talked a little more, about what Mikoto couldn’t really say, “Talk…Blah blah…imperative… blah blah…” Shiba was obviously enthralled with what Asahina and Kitsuki were discussing. Shiba did enjoy tagging along though, so it made sense she would do so in a conversation. Daigotsu looked just as bored as she did, at least they shared that something in common. Daigotsu stood and Mikoto blinked back to the present. Apparently the lunch was over, Asahina was offering courtesies, Daigotsu had headed out the door, and Shiba looked like she was trying to make up her mind whether to stay or go. Matsu took off while the getting was good. She was going to need to work out some tension before spending another several hours in the company of another windbag, or several of them.
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